North Little Rock, Arkansas – The North Little Rock School District has filed a lawsuit seeking to recover $12,755.62 that it says was mistakenly deposited into a woman’s bank account instead of being paid to a district employee.
The suit, filed October 9, alleges that the woman spent or withdrew the money and failed to return it. District officials say they have now identified the account holder who received the payments. They are asking a judge to order repayment, along with additional damages and legal costs.
The dispute involves five payments deposited into an Arvest account during May and June, according to the lawsuit. The district says all five were intended for an employee who had changed their direct deposit information.
Reports attribute the mix-up to an incorrect account number allegedly entered by the district. As a result, the money went into the woman’s account rather than the employee’s account. The district’s claim is that the recipient had no right to retain those funds.
The total at issue covers the five deposits together, rather than a single mistaken transfer. Although the district says it knows who received the money, its efforts to obtain repayment through letters have not produced a response, according to the account provided in the lawsuit.
Officials say they sent the woman a demand letter in September asking her to repay the money within two weeks. The lawsuit states that she did not respond. The supplied reports also describe demand letters that went unanswered, including one that was returned to the sender.
That returned letter leaves a distinction between the district’s attempts to contact the account holder and whether a particular demand reached her. The information provided does not establish that she received every letter the district sent.
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At the center of the lawsuit are three allegations. The district says the deposits were made by mistake, that the woman either spent or withdrew the money, and that she was not entitled to keep it. Those claims form the basis of its effort to recover the funds through court.
The district is seeking more than the return of the $12,755.62. Its request also includes additional damages and the costs of pursuing the case. The supplied information does not identify a dollar amount for those additional demands.
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NLRSD has requested a jury trial. Its allegations, including the claim that the recipient used or removed the money, have not yet been tested in court. The filing sets out the district’s position; it does not establish that a judge or jury has accepted that account.
The reported lack of a response concerns the repayment demands. No response from the woman to the lawsuit is described in the information provided, and her account of what happened is not included.
For now, the case centers on the district’s attempt to recover money it says was intended as employee pay but reached an unrelated account through an account-number error. Whether the woman must repay the full amount, and whether any additional damages or legal costs will be awarded, remain unresolved.
